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PSA: Kacey Musgraves may be one of the raddest female performers out there right now.*

She is, and has been becoming for quite some time, one of the most unique voices in young country music, both because of her talent and because of her open and honest lyrics that make her stand out in the generally more conservative country music scene. As she began her show at the historic Ryman Auditorium here in Nashville, 27-year-old Musgraves opened with the namesake song of her newest album, Pageant Material., and the crowd was 100 percent into it. It’s upbeat and catchy and wonderfully honest about being who you want to be regardless of who people think you should be. With lyrics like “I’m always higher than my hair/ and it ain’t that I don’t care about world peace/ it’s just that I don’t see how I can fix it in a swimsuit on stage” it’s clear even from the first song that Musgraves knows who she is and is unafraid to be exactly herself.

The first thing I noted when her set began (besides straight up just how COOL she seemed) was that Musgraves’ voice is fantastic. Like, effortlessly fantastic. It feels so rare these days to find someone who performs live with just sheer talent, and Musgraves absolutely nails it. Her stage presence is absolutely captivating- her stage was set with a sparkly red backdrop, similar to the cover of Pageant Material, and her band wore pink suits with lights attached. Even with everything going on behind her, I found myself focusing on Kacey, drawn into her songs. It’s refreshing how real she seems; witty and confident without it being to campy or overdone.

Being at a show in the city where the singer lives has its own perks. In addition to performing in a historic venue to a full house, there was a personal element to the night. Musgraves is originally from Texas, but has lived in Nashville for about six years and had quite a bit of family in the crowd for the show. Hearing her dedicate her song “Fine“ to her Nana who was in the crowd (as it is one of her favorite songs) was possibly one of the most adorable things imaginable.

Her set included many of her contagiously fun songs like “Step Off”, “Biscuits”, “Dime Store Cowgirl” and “Family Is Family”, and the crowd was absolutely loving it; singing along to every word. She sang the “Not My Mommas Broken Heart”, sung by Miranda Lambert, and until that moment I had no idea that song was written by her, but it showcased her songwriting talent beautifully, and left me even more in awe of her creative spirit.

One of the of the absolute best moments of the night came when Musgraves covered TLC’s “No Scrubs”, getting the entire audience to sing along with her adorably unique version of the classic song, but that wasn’t the end of her song covers. Later on into the show she began playing the beginning to Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy“, and we were surprised by SHERYL CROW HERSELF, who came out to sing the chorus with Musgraves. It was the perfect surprise for the night, and I’m not saying the moment was transcendent, but Crow came out with a 1959 Fender Telecaster and ABSOLUTELY rocked it. Okay, it was transcendent.

Feel free to share the below Instagram-ready photos from the show with the following photo credit. Please do not crop or manipulate the photos in any way. We also encourage tagging the artist when posting.